Illegal Fishing Costing $75M a Year Tackled by Signing UN Agreement

Liberia ratified last month the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA) to eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUU).

Adopted in 2009 by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the PSMA requires parties to strengthen and harmonize port controls for foreign-flagged vessels to keep IUU fish out of the world’s markets.  Ports with limited inspection capacity are a prime pathway for unethical fishermen to get their catch from ship to shelf.

The loss of revenue to artisanal fishermen and the damage to fishery resources caused by illegal commercial fishing costs Liberia $75 million annually.

The National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority of Liberia will receive $250,000 over the next year to help it enforce port state measures of the PSMA.